1. Field
Example embodiments relate to nozzle plates and methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a nozzle plate including protruding nozzles and a method of manufacturing the nozzle plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Inkjet printing is the technology of printing an image by ejecting fine droplets of ink onto desired portions of a printing medium via nozzles in a nozzle plate. Inkjet printing technologies currently have increasing applications beyond image printing, for example, in printable electronics, biotechnologies, bioscience, and the like. For example, a flexible substrate, besides a glass substrate, may be used to fabricate electronic circuits, and thus, the inkjet printing technology may be applied in the field of flexible display apparatuses. Such inkjet printing enables the formation of a pattern using just one process, and thus may lower manufacturing costs as compared to photolithography processes.
Inkjet printing technologies may be classified into either a thermal printing technology or a piezoelectric printing technology. The thermal printing technology involves generating bubbles by using a heat source and ejecting droplets of ink by expanding the bubbles. Meanwhile, the piezoelectric printing technology ejects droplets of ink by using a piezoelectric transformation. For an inkjet printing technology to be applied in printable electronics, biotechnologies, bioscience, and the like, each droplet of ink ejected from nozzles is required to have a small volume and to reach an exact target position. However, general inkjet printing technologies such as thermal printing or piezoelectric printing have technical limitations for use in printable electronics, such as a low accuracy in drop positioning and large volumes of droplets.
To address these limitations, an electro-hydrodynamic printing technology of ejecting droplets by using an electrostatic force has been developed. This electro-hydrodynamic printing may advantageously lead to droplets having smaller volumes, as compared with general thermal printing and piezoelectric printing. Recently, a hybrid printing technology in which piezoelectric and electro-hydrodynamic printing technologies are combined is being developed. Such hybrid printing ensures that multiple nozzles are individually driven, and thus are suitable for industrial fine-line printing. In this regard a nozzle plate with protruding nozzles that are robust and may enhance electric field convergence is required for electro-hydrodynamic printing and hybrid printing.